EADD Gardening Club: Ploughing FUBAR's infertile Fields

[YellowPolkaDotHalo]

^ lol YPDH he made a cold smoker from the fridge, not the woodburner. He uses ducting to channel the smoke from the burner to the old fridge where he hangs what ever he wants to smoke. Although I may be wrong and he has made a woodburner out of a fridge, just opens the door for a blast of heat

I had 3 apples on one tree and 2 pears on the other. Yellow raspberries still fruiting away happily which is odd.

Oh haha. I thought he'd somehow made a woodburner out of an old fridge and chucked wood in the door. A smokers even more inventive. We're going to need to sort this fan club out yer know.

*sigh* what a guy!

 

[BlindHelperMonkey]

funnily enough the wild strawberries we have under the red cherry tree while producing few flowers and consequently few fruit, actually still had a few beautifully ripe and sweet specimens when i last collected which is unusual because normally the birds and other critters swipe them away beforehand.. i guess owing to the current state of fruiting plants in the area they never thought to check



and yes they are delicious freshly picked!

 

[swampdragon]

has anyone else noticed the havoc the weather has wreaked on the plants this year? i believe the quasi-drought (lol remember that) was largely to blame, as our astilbe, hydrangeas, gladioli among many others failed to flower, and red-leafed cherry trees seem to have suffered badly fairly ubiquitously. many of these were only recently recovering from the two severe winters we just had (that killed off many old and established palms&false palms locally) i fear for these weakened plants if we get hit again.

Not a great gardening year, no. Dunno about drought - my problems were lack of sunshine, slugs and mildew.

Had a great crop of blueberries though, and my nasturtiums and sweet peas appreciated the rain. Pfft.

 

[BlindHelperMonkey]

i thought sweetpeas preferred shelter and didnt like it too wet..?

 

[YellowPolkaDotHalo]

ayeoop SwampDragon.. I was going to say Hi in Gibberings but it all kicked right off. It does frequently but no doubt you've had a read before signing up and still want to be a part of it. :D

Not many of my plantings fared that well. The Morning Glory though is all over the shop and still blooming which I'm really pleased about.

 

[swampdragon]

i thought sweetpeas preferred shelter and didnt like it too wet..?

Well, it's well-drained soil and they got a bit of sun, so they weren't growing in a bog.. but I find that they really sulk if they don't get enough water.

ayeoop SwampDragon.. I was going to say Hi in Gibberings but it all kicked right off. It does frequently but no doubt you've had a read before signing up and still want to be a part of it. :D

Not many of my plantings fared that well. The Morning Glory though is all over the shop and still blooming which I'm really pleased about.

Nah, am used to forum politics. I just lurk and talk about shite instead, is easier than getting involved. Well done on the morning glories, too - I never have any luck with them! (And yeah, hi!)

 

[Allein]

Anyone got any good tips on how to kill ivy, I've asked next door too many times to cut it back and not let it grow right up the side of my house. I don't want to fall out over it but its on the roof again so I think a but of ninja weed killer is in order

 

[badandwicked]

Well done on the morning glories, too - I never have any luck with them!

here the white flowering morning glory is a major weed, it wraps around everything and strangles it, it is pretty though so I let it take over the asparagus. I noticed it was a problem in spain too, although theirs was a lush dark blue/purple flower.

Anyone got any good tips on how to kill ivy, I've asked next door too many times to cut it back and not let it grow right up the side of my house. I don't want to fall out over it but its on the roof again so I think a but of ninja weed killer is in order

I've got that problem too only its mine, not my neighbours, I've just been lazy. A glyphosate weedkiller (branded as roundup) works best, you spray it on the leaves and it gets carried to the roots where it kills the plant and breaks down harmlessly in the soil. But its best applied in the spring when the plants are growing vigorously. You could just snip them where the stem meets the house as a temporary measure. don't pull it all off though till the ivy's properly brown and dead, when it still holding on tight you can do more damage to the house than the ivy would. If you know someone who's a gardener or well connected in the allotment world :D they can get you a bottle of concentrated stuff that you dilute down depending on what you want to kill. But the spray will kill anything it lands on so best off used on a still day


My gardens gone to shit, just like last year, and I blame the weather Its easy to go out and potter & tidy up & weed when its warm and dry, when its drizzling & blowing a gale I really can't be arsed.

 

[BlindHelperMonkey]

ditto, i quit doing the grass half way through for the justifiable reason that the grass was full of baby frogs of two differing types and the one i first noticed had his hand cut off by me accidentally and though i stopped and rescued him - made me not want to continue. especially as i found 5 or 6 in five or so minutes



ivy is a bitch if allowed to get out of hand. if its just a bit of neighbours use above leaf spray suggestion, a potted ivy could be killed quickly in many ways from salt to acid but in the ground only ever use branded herbicides, theres still banned products floating round and god only knows what mutating agent-orange crap some of that stuff can do

 

[pinkpapaver]

i am. going to get a collection of miniature bulbs and plant them before the clocks go back. i so love gardening. advice please. i have a slabbed area and would like to grow some vegetables. could i get my dad to make some raised beds and just fill them up? whats the best thiing to fill them up with? thursdays shall become gardening day . what veg can i start off in the winter?
my honest has started to flower again.
just love the randomness of gardening.. the element of surprise

 

[BlindHelperMonkey]

hm.. it depends what you want to grow, root vegetables will probably need deep raised beds, whereas tomatoes, courgettes, peas etc can be grown in a small pot so long as you have a bit of liquid fertiliser (again what you want to grow dictates which type/brand will be best) in general green leafy plants want more nitrogen, rooty plants more phosphorous & fruiting veg like tomatoes more potassium)


there are 'winter vegetables' but unless you want to germinate indoors then plant out, youll probably have to wait a bit. make sure your old man uses rich soil as in plenty of organic material & lots of it too.. deep roots = good plants



my moms garden is in that horrible energy-sapping state of winter decay too. just best to cosy in for a few months now.. it cant look much worse :D

 

[swampdragon]

Raised beds rock - you could grow a decent amount of things if they're at least about 18 inches high.. otherwise aim for around 12" high but you'll be more limited. Fill them up with compost and you'll be all set.

There's not much that I can get excited about planting at the moment.. it's all winter greens and cabbages and stuff. And I plan on hibernating until at least March.

 

[badandwicked]

Hi Pink, yeah I'd just concentrate on getting the beds ready and planning what you're going to plant in spring. You can get free carpet off cuts so if you cover the soil it will keep it warm & weed free for spring.

For Kate Chickens enjoying a sunday roast. I wasn't sure about them eating pork but they're true scavengers so if they came across a dead pig i'm sure they'd have a nibble.

 

[Ceres]

I have seen my chickens eating mice the cat left, they will eat anything given the chance including catfood grrr.

 

[Marmalade]

They're getting to be big buggers B&W. How many eggs are you getting per day now?

Also, is that a rogue yorkie pud escaping in the background?

 

[badandwicked]

They're getting to be big buggers B&W. How many eggs are you getting per day now?

Also, is that a rogue yorkie pud escaping in the background?

4 a day Marmz, but it takes 25 hours to make an egg so every now and then someone takes a day off lol thats a roast potato, they only had eyes for the pork scraps and sweetcorn and came back to the more boring stuff.

 

[badandwicked]

I found a wasps nest in a pile of rocks I had been dumping grass clippings over - they've made a big tunnel in and it seems really active. I nearly shoved a garden fork in it

Off to google what you do with a wasps nest, cos its right by the veg patch and can't stay. At least now I know why the dogs face swelled up a few weeks ago and I took 2 stings out of her muzzle.

 

[Furious George]

if you had to take the stings out of your dog's muzzle then that would have been bees, not wasps. The best advice would be to get a professional to get rid of the nest. I've dealt with a couple of small nests by spraying with isopropanol and choloroform (not at the same time, either works)

 

[badandwicked]

^ cheers I should have realised that 8) I don;t want to kill bees, especially honey bees. I guess I'll try and catch one & identify it but as soon as you go near the nest they're all over the place, quite frightning.

 

[Mailmonkey]